smartphone menu rubriken

Split Identity

Pakistan is suffering from Islamist extremism. In Pakistan's history, manipulation of the faith for political purposes has deep roots. By Mohammad Ali Khan

Pakistan is by definition a Muslim nation. It was born in the partition of British India in 1947. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founding father, had campaigned for a separate state for South Asian Muslims, but envisioned a modern state with a secular government. His Muslim League championed the Two-Nation Theory, according to which Hindus and Muslims could not coexist peacefully as a single nation. Nonetheless, Jinnah and most of the Muslim leadership during the independence struggle did not intend Pakistan to become a theocratic state.

The contradiction between the demand for a separate state on the basis of religion and the wish for non-religious governance was evident from the very start. Scholars say that this contradiction is at the heart of Pakistan's ongoing identity crises, contri¬buting to the extremist challenges the country is facing.

Culture versus faith

"Contradiction is in Pakistan's essence, and that is why we have not been able to figure out our real identity," says Ijaz Khan, the chairman of the Department of International Relations at the University of Peshawar. According to him, there are two schools of thought in Pakistan: those who want a state run along religious lines and those with a secular mindset.

Contradiction between the demand for a separate state on the basis of religion and the wish for non-religious governance: Mohammed Ali Jinnah on 1 April 1947, the day of Pakistani independence

​​Both schools refer to Islam, however. The secularists invented "Muslim nationalism", stressing cultural matters rather than the faith as such to define Pakistan's identity. Bangladesh's secession from Pakistan in 1971, however, dealt a heavy blow to this philosophy because the Bengalis emphasised cultural differences between south Asian Muslims rather than their unity.

Soon after the partition of British India in 1947, the politicians who had led the campaign for a separate Muslim state became marginalised in Pakistan. The military and the bureaucracy assumed crucial roles in shaping policies, especially after the country's first military coup of 1958. "Both the military and the bureaucracy used religion as a tool to promote their interests," remarks Professor Khan, adding that some Muslim parties, which originally opposed partition on religious grounds, began to campaign for legislation in line with Islamic law. The military and the bureaucracy considered these parties allies.

All governments, however, whether established through elections or by military coups, "played the religion card", Professor Khan argues: "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the founder of the Pakistan People's Party, came up with the idea of Islamic socialism." Bhutto won a landslide victory against an alliance that included some faith-based parties in the 1973 elections, but he nonetheless continued to further Islamise the country. For instance, he banned the sale of liquor and declared Friday a holiday.

Sunni versus Shia

The late 1970s saw a dramatic growth of politics on religious grounds. General Zia-ul-Haq used Islamic ideology to topple Bhutto's elected government and later to perpetuate his military dictatorship. Though the military regime strived to project some kind of Pan-Islamist vision, it basically relied on Wahabism-influenced interpretations of Islamic theology and law. This approach offended Shias and accordingly triggered sectarian violence. Sadly, such violence continues to flare up occasionally.

Fighting fire with fire: In the 1973 election, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto won a landslide victory against an alliance that included some faith-based parties, but he nonetheless continued to further Islamise the country

​​In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan to help the Afghan government to quell an insurgency led of the religious right. The United States called the Soviet invasion an expression of geopolitical assertiveness and considered Zia an important ally for thwarting such aspirations. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) began to cooperate with the CIA in support for anti-Soviet Mujaheddin fighters.

Hardline Sunni groups like Deobandi, Barelvi and Ahle Hadith fought the petro-dollar funded war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. "The Americans sometimes called parts of what is now the central Asian republics the Soviet Union's 'soft belly', because they were largely inhabited by Muslims," recalls Professor Khan. The Mujaheddin got support from the USA, but from Saudi Arabia too. Washington and Riyadh were not only interested in containing Soviet influence, they also wanted to block the spill over of the Iranian revolution to neighbouring countries and the Middle East.

"Pakistan became an ideological battleground for Iran and Saudi Arabia," writes Umbreen Javed, a professor of political science at Punjab University. She argues that Saudi-backed Deobandi religious schools became even more influential thanks to funding from Pakistani authorities.

In the 1980s, thousands of armed activists of religious parties and extremist groups in Pakistan participated in the Afghan "Jihad", the "holy war". Many returned home after the humiliated Red Army withdrew. Hundreds of trained fighters joined various radical organisations, some of which wanted to take their armed struggle to Indian-held Kashmir. "Jihad and the consequent militarisation of Islam have inflicted permanent damage on civil society and state institutions in Pakistan," is Javed's assessment.

There was another twist to the story when the ISI began supporting the fundamentalist Sunni Taliban in the early 1990s. At the time, Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of Zulfikar, was prime minister. The idea was to stabilise Afghanistan and gain control of the Mujaheddin who had begun fighting a bloody civil war among each other after the Soviet troops had withdrawn. Once again, the Islamic faith was used for political purposes. The bitter irony was that Islamic extremists killed Benazir during an election campaign in late 2007.

Afghanistan, once more

Rifts and tensions in Pakistani society grew worse after the USA and its allies invaded Afghanistan under the UN umbrella to eliminate Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime two months after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001. Violence has since escalated and spilled over into Pakistan, first into tribal areas along the border and then into major cities.

Cold War <em>realpolitik:</em> Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) cooperated with the CIA and Saudi-Arabia in support for anti-Soviet Mujaheddin fighters

​​Many people feel that Pakistan is suffering because of the American interests in the region. "The USA is in Afghanistan because it wants to exploit the natural resources of the central Asian republics and sell weapons," says Sirajul Haq, deputy chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a hardline Islamic party. Right-wing leaders like him deny Pakistani extremism is rooted in religion. They say extremist violence is driven by social and political injustices – and that their faith would offer the way out of these problems.

Haq contends: "The issue of extremism is inter-linked with economic and political forms of terrorism people of Pakistan are faced with." He says the military not only serves American interests, but has also forged alliances with Pakistan's feudal landlords, denying the masses civil liberties.

Such reasoning resonates with many Pakistanis. Secular-minded Professor Khan agrees that the country is ridden with rampant corruption and socio-economic misery, but he argues use of religion to further strategic interests by the State and international players has done more damage than domestic grievances. He stresses that the military has a long track record of fostering such ideology.

﻿Extremism likely to persist

Religious extremism in Pakistan has become a brutal menace, a monster that has already killed thousands of innocent people. So far, there is no end in sight.

"Jihad and the consequent militarisation of Islam have inflicted permanent damage on civil society and state institutions in Pakistan," says Umbreen Javed, professor of political science at Punjab University

​​Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a senior leader of the ¬secular Awami National Party that currently rules the volatile north-western province of Khyber ¬Pakhtunkhwa, is pessimistic: "In Pakistan, religious parties do not denounce acts of terrorism the way they should and thus ultimately contribute to extremism." His only son was killed by militants to punish him for being part of an anti-militant state government.

In Hussain's view, the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the USA are not serious about fighting extremism: "They are targeting only those militants who are 'bad Taliban' in their perception, while retaining relations with 'good Taliban'." In his view, this selective approach "is not addressing the roots of extremism". Moreover, this attitude is causing distrust among the people, but also among the allies according to him. Hussein warns: "Extremism will persist unless a coherent approach is adopted."

Professor Khan similarly sees a pattern of double standards. He points out that Washington did not mind the Talibans' fundamentalist Sunni regime in Afghanistan before Al-Qaeda used that country as a base for organising attacks on New York and Washington.

The scholar explains the evolution of extremists: "First they were merely the tools, and then, they became partners; now they want to be in control." His assessment is: "Extremism is here to stay for longer because it has been nurtured well and has strong roots." There would be scope for containing it by political means, he argues, but that is not being done. In his view, it would be necessary to promote representative democracy while using force against the militants at the same time. Instead, he says, "policy is focused on containment, not elimination".

Facebook, Twitter, Google+

In submitting this comment, the reader accepts the following terms and conditions: Qantara.de reserves the right to edit or delete comments or not to publish them. This applies in particular to defamatory, racist, personal, or irrelevant comments or comments written in dialects or languages other than English. Comments submitted by readers using fantasy names or intentionally false names will not be published. Qantara.de will not provide information on the telephone. Readers' comments can be found by Google and other search engines.

Your name

Subject

Comment *

website

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.

Comments for this article: Split Identity

I read with great interest, the Pakistani journalist Mohammad Ali Khan’s article: “ Split Identity”. Although his overview of the Pakistani situation may be interesting to a non-Pakistani but for a person like me with Pakistani roots and a deep interest in geo-political development in the area, Mr. Khan’s analysis is simplistic and flawed if not outright misleading.
Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency among some Pakistani NGOs, journalists and intellectuals to pander to the western needs for doomsday scenarios about Pakistan. And who better to fulfill and legitimize this demand than the native Pakistanis.
Unfortunately the use of phrases like: Islamist extremism,a hard-line Islamic party and Pakistani extremism is rooted in religion and Islamic extremists confirms my point.

I gather that Mr. Khan has a Muslim background, as do 94% people in Pakistan. I also have a Muslim background. But having a Muslim background does not make a person a religious, a hardliner or an Islamist. The word Islamist or Islamism does not figure in any religious scripture, laws or guidelines. The word was manufactured by the neo-cons in Bush administration to support its war on terrorism and somehow, link Islam with terrorism and extremism. I hope that MR. Khan is aware of this.
Being a non-religious person and a humanist on top of this, I am no fan of mixing religion with politics, but I know for a fact that Jamaat-e-Islami is definitely not a hard line party of Taleban mold. It preaches justice and equality based on Quranic doctrine and most of its members are highly educated and belong to middle class. One can agree with or disagree with this party’s brand of politics, but the party has never gained any popular support because most Pakistanis are not interested to be ruled by religious parties. In all Gallop and PEW polls, overwhelming majority of Pakistanis reject extremism and terrorism but are proud to be Muslim.

I agree with Mr Qureishi, this article is simplistic. Who is Mr Mohammed Ali Khan? Certainly not an expert. True, religion and politics are fatefully and wickedly intertwined in Pakistan. But this article does not give an appropriate overview or assessment of the situation. And: There are many good people out there to be asked. Brits, Americans, but also, of course, Pakistanis.... And not just Ahmed Rashid...

Partner Organizations

Facebook

Most Recent Photo Essay

According to a WHO report from December 2014, more than one million Syrians have been wounded in the Syrian civil war since the spring of 2011. Some 45 per cent of the injured are children and women; about 10–15 per cent have suffered amputations or disabilities. Daily shelling is the main cause of their injuries. From spring 2014 to early 2015, photographer Kai Wiedenhofer travelled through towns, villages and refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, taking pictures of those left scarred by the conflict. He says that by showing the genuine aftermath of this conflict and photographing its victims in a dignified manner, his intention was to raise support for people who are really in need and whose sufferings do not end with the war. "In all my time as a photographer," he says, "I have never witnessed such grave atrocities." All photos in this gallery are by Kai Wiedenhofer